The availability of Florida Panthers star player Matthew Tkachuk to begin the 25-26 season is under question as the 27 year old forward is still determining whether or not to receive offseason surgery according to Greg Wyshynski.
If Tkachuk were to undergo surgery soon he would likely miss the first 2-3 months of the season. This would slot him in for a return probably around the end of the 2025 calendar year or early stages of 2026. The good news for Matthew is this means he would be healthy in time for the winter Olympics where his spot with Team USA is all but certain.
Matthew tore an abductor muscle while representing USA last on the international stage during the 2025 Four Nations faceoff. This injury kept him out of NHL action the rest of the 2025 regular season. He returned in time for the playoffs while nursing said injury. Despite the setback, he impressively went a point per game for 23 points in 23 games during the Panthers back to back Stanley Cup run.
The decision is now in the hands of Tkachuk in regards to whether to keep playing through the injury in order to not miss more NHL action and be ready on opening night of next season or take the lumps now and be fully healthy for the most important hockey to be played in the second half of the year being the world stage and playoffs.
The recently named NHL 26 cover athlete recorded 22 goals and 35 assists for 57 points in 52 games last regular season in an injury riddled campaign. We’ll see what decision Tkachuk makes soon as he enters what will be his 10th season in the NHL, 4th in Florida. The Panthers have never failed to make the Stanley Cup finals since the inclusion of Tkachuk on the roster.
